The Hinterland Nature Worker Cooperative was created by a group of people whose goal is to connect people with nature and community. Based in Gimli, Manitoba, the co-op says it works to “create unique spaces where people are inspired to experience nature in new and exciting ways and build relationships with each other and the natural world.”

Hinterland’s current projects include an 18-acre camping and day-use park nestled in a lakeside Boreal forest property, complete with hiking trails, a little market farm, and compost collection service. It also built and maintains community ice rinks and winter installations.

The co-op is guided by the acknowledgment that many generations of Indigenous people, plants and animals, past, present and future share land in a reciprocal relationship, and it strives to remove barriers so that everyone can have experiences on the land.

The co-op’s members are workers with different skill sets that come together to support its business and mission.

“We like the idea that the workers are the decision-makers in the business, and that we all have an equal say and share in what happens with the co-op,” a representative of the co-op said. “We can come up with ideas and discuss them as a group of members with various skills and experience, until we are all happy with what we have to bring forward.

Co-operatives First has been happy to help the Hinterland Nature Worker Cooperative get up and running.

“Co-operatives First was instrumental in providing guidance, education and help in setting up our business as a co-op, as well as ongoing resources, and pointed us in the right direction when it came to incorporation protocols, writing our by-laws, and seeking funding…we are grateful for Co-operatives First!”